How to win the jungle race as Xin Zhao against Nidalee · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Xin Zhao's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Nidalee.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Xin Zhao Favoured | Three Talon Strike's knock-up plus passive healing wins the first buff-pit duel. The margin is thin: max-range Javelin poke decides who enters the scuttle fight healthy, and one slow camp on your side hands the window straight back, so keep the trade short. Keep a camp between you and her spear line — the Javelin is the whole matchup. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Xin Zhao Favoured | Wind Becomes Lightning (W) challenge poke starts trades you finish for free. Pounce-reset cat clears let them out-tempo and kite the slower kits, so this is an edge and not a blowout — take the level-2 skirmish only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Level 3 Route | Xin Zhao Favoured | The full knock-up combo with W slow is among the top three level-3 duels, but the spear-hunt-pounce execute pattern wins any fight they start at range. You still win the straight exchange at the opening scuttle; keep it short, keep it decisive, and keep the scuttle line yours. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Xin Zhao Favoured — Take Duels | The 4-5 window is yours if you pick it: she is at maximum value in 4-5 — spear from fog, hunt the mark, and leave before anyone can turn. Track that pattern, arrive one camp early, and take the fight before the follow-up shows. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Crescent Guard Favoured | Crescent Guard makes the 1v1 literal — outside help is deleted from your duel. The spear-into-pounce execute loop gets a full extra rotation at six — respect that one window, but the six-spike comparison favors you: take the post-6 duel whenever HP bars start even. |
| First Item Spike | Sundered Sky / Eclipse Spike | Completing your core item triggers a massive damage, health, and sustain multiplier that completely overpowers traditional brawlers or isolated targets. Nidalee's first item makes the spear a genuine execute threat rather than chip damage on the way to a fight. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Even Scaling — Prep Decides | Even at full build. Since she is a poke-and-execute pattern that never actually stands in the fight, win the vision around the pit first and the fight second. |
Start your clear at the Red Buff camp utilizing your Q resets and passive to maximize early clear speed and health. Nidalee clears extremely fast in cougar form with pounce resets, and she is usually the first jungler to level three.
Ranked by the race windows in Xin Zhao's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Xin Zhao vs Nidalee report continues with scuttle & dragon rules, invade windows and safety boundaries, the top-side objective fight, macro rotations and the win condition — plus the live enemy-jungle tracker that shows their start, clear and gank timers in game.
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Xin Zhao's race plan controls 6 of the 7 windows — Xin Zhao holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Xin Zhao's race plan controls 6 of the 7 windows, so Nidalee is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Playing the other side? Nidalee vs Xin Zhao guide →
All Xin Zhao jungle matchups →
More Xin Zhao jungle matchups: vs Master Yi · vs Morgana · vs Naafiri · vs Nocturne · vs Nunu & Willump · vs Olaf